Also, known as the “Quick Sheet” or “One-Minute Insight”, this technique allows you to collect written feedback from your students. And the best thing about this technique is that you can use it for many different purposes. Use the one-minute paper when:
- You need to help your students brainstorm the answer to a question you are posing to begin the class topic
- You would like to gauge peer feedback on group work
- You want to quickly quiz your students to find out who did the assigned reading homework
- You need to collect feedback on your teaching
Have you used this technique in your lab or classroom? What worked (or didn’t work) for you?
A GA or TA contract is often part of an admission offer to graduate school and sometimes motivated undergraduates can find positions in their departments. The obvious incentives include the pay cheque, the experience working with students (leading discussions, grading, lecturing, etc.), but what are the benefits that no one expects to find?
For me, within the first weeks of my first TA contract as an undergrad, I realized that TAing was going to help me become a better writer. I was marking short papers and I read 100 answers to the same question. I saw examples where students used the same evidence in different ways, how they used the evidence to construct arguments, how difficult it was for some to string together a coherent sentence. It was enlightening.
Before this, I was most familiar with my own writing. My experience as a student hadn’t included peer review – I’d never seen the writing of any of my classmates. Blogging was non-existent in my courses and there wasn’t any trading or proofreading going on in the classroom. Suddenly I had piles of student writing to go through, to edit, to suggest changes for clarity, accuracy, or strength. Explaining to a student where and why something was unclear or confusing forced me to figure it out for myself.
It’s when you try explaining something to another person that you find out if you really understand it yourself. This is something I never anticipated I would learn from being a teaching assistant, but it’s something I’m definitely glad I found!
Are there other hidden gems waiting for TAs and GAs? What was a surprise for you?
Classes start tomorrow — are you ready? Are you already overloaded?
It’s common for GAs and TAs to feel swamped at the beginning (and middle and end) of a semester. New courses, piles of reading, mounds of writing, trying to meet deadlines for conference submissions and presentations, students knocking on your door asking questions about registration, last semester’s coursepack, and on and on…it’s enough to make you want to run for cover (or the covers!).
Have you developed any strategies for dealing with the different types of work you have as a student-teacher? What helps you manage?
Here are some things you should check with your supervisor or graduate secretary to make sure that your new year is off to a good start.
- What are the pre-requisites for the course? Is this course open to non-majors? What is the usual student demographic (first year? second-language etc?)
- When are the classes? Am I to attend each class?
- How many students will I be responsible for?
- Do I have to hold office hours? How many hours a week? What do I cover during this time?
- What are my responsibilities during class? (do I lecture? lead discussion? take notes? lead labs?)
- Are there any materials or resources that I can read to prepare for the course?
- What is the departmental policy for late papers? plagiarism? absence? etc
- What should I do, or who do I contact if I will be absent?
- Will I be evaluated? If so, by whom? how often?
What other questions do you/did you have as a new GA or TA?
You may not realize it but you have a vision when you walk into the classroom. You have an idea of how you would like your students to learn, and in turn, how you hope to teach them. Some GAs and TAs might value transparency in the classroom, or a democratic learning environment. Others might see the students’ lives as resources for deciding how and what they should teach, while some GAs and TAs might place a lot of importance on creating a culturally respectful atmosphere. But how do you decide what your teaching space and teaching style are like, especially if you have not had much experience teaching?
Here are some simple suggestions that can help you on the road to writing your teaching philosophy:
- Try to keep a teaching journal. Write about the activities you are bringing into the classroom, how those work, and what you would like to change. A teaching journal is also a great way to think about what you should be bringing into the classroom, based on how your students respond and or interact to your activities. From here you can easily see a theme to your teaching.
- Use mid-course and end-of-term feedback to guide you. Feedback is a great way to see what it is about your class that students take away with them. This will help you to see what students appreciate about your teaching space.
- Ask someone you consider a mentor (or one of the CTL staff) to watch you teach. Having someone sit in on the class as a student can really give you a true glimpse from the back of the classroom (and one you might not receive from feedback).
For those of you who already have a teaching philosophy, what advice can you share for those getting started? What about those who need to edit their philosophy, what can they do to edit efficiently and effectively?
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